JUVENILE COURT ACT

JUVENILE COURT

CHAPTER 287

JUVENILE COURT ACT

For the setting up of a Juvenile Court and to provide for matters relating

to children and young persons.

25th July, 1980 *

Enacted by ACT XXIV of 1980, as amended by Acts: XI of 1985 and VIII

of 1990, XXIII of 2021 and LXIV of 2021.

This Act may be cited as the Juvenile Court Act.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -

"child or young person" means a person who is under the age of

eighteen (18) years;

"guardian" means a tutor or curator and includes a guardian in

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for justice;

"public officer" has the same meaning as is assigned to it by

article 124 of the Constitution.

(1) There shall be set up in accordance with the provisions

of this Act, a court of law to be known as the Juvenile Court for the

purpose of hearing charges against, or other proceedings relating

to, a child or young person in accordance with this Act and for the

purpose of exercising any other jurisdiction conferred on juvenile

courts by or under this or any other Act, whether before or after the

coming into force of this Act.

(2)

Without prejudice to sub-article (1), the Juvenile Court shall

have a twofold jurisdiction, namely

(a)

the Juvenile Court shall be deemed to be a Court

of Magistrates and shall have the same jurisdiction with regard

to the hearing of charges against children and young persons

which the Court of Magistrates, as a court of criminal judicature

and as a court of inquiry, would, but for the provisions of this

Act, have

Provided that all the provisions of the Criminal

Code and of any other law applicable to the Court of

Magistrates shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, apply to

the Juvenile Court

Provided further that judgments and interlocutory

decrees of the Juvenile Court shall be subject to appeal in the

same manner and within the same time as would apply to

judgments and interlocutory decrees of the Court of Magistrates

*See Government Notice No. 380 of the 25th of July, 1980.

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as a court of criminal judicature;

(b) without prejudice to any previous proceedings, the

Juvenile Court shall be deemed to be a Court of

Magistrates with civil competence and shall be deemed to

have civil jurisdiction with regard to the taking

cognizance of proceedings relating to children and young

persons in terms of the Minor Protection (Alternative

Care) Act.

(1) The Juvenile Court shall consist of a magistrate.

(2) In the proceedings before it, except for the proceedings filed

in terms of article 3(2)(b) the Juvenile Court shall be assisted by two

persons, one of whom shall be a woman, appointed under this

article, whom the court may consult in any case for its decision.

(3) Such consultation shall take place in open court, and the

court shall not be bound to abide by the opinion of the assistants.

(4) The two assistants shall be appointed by the President,

acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, from

amongst persons who in the Prime Minister ’s opinion have

previous experience and special qualifications for dealing with

problems of juveniles.

(5) The President may, at any time, appoint more than two

persons as assistants of the Juvenile Court but only two such

persons shall assist the court in any one case.

(6) The office of an assistant of the Juvenile Court shall

become vacant -

(a) at the expiration of five years from the date of his

appointment or at such earlier time as may be specified

in the instrument by which he is appointed; or

(b) if he is removed from office in the same manner and

on the same grounds as a magistrate may be removed

from office.

(7) A person appointed as assistant of the Juvenile Court shall,

at the beginning of the first sitting of the court after his

appointment, take in open court an oath to discharge his functions

faithfully, impartially and in accordance with this Act.

(8) The assistants of the Juvenile Court may abstain or be

challenged for the same reasons and on the same grounds as,

according to law, a magistrate may abstain or be challenged. Any

question regarding any cause of abstention or challenge shall be

decided by the magistrate.

(1) The Juvenile Court shall hold sittings in Malta and in

Gozo at such regular intervals as may be necessary to expedite its

business, and may also sit on Saturdays. The day and time of each

sitting shall be determined by the court.

(2) The Minister shall, by notice in the Gazette, determine the

building or buildings where the Juvenile Court shall sit in Malta

and in Gozo.

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(1) Where in the course of any proceedings before the

Juvenile Court it appears to the court that the person charged or to

whom the proceedings relate has attained the age of eighteen (18)

years, the said court may, if it thinks it undesirable to adjourn the

case and refer it to the competent Court of Magistrates, proceed

with the hearing and determination of the case; if, however, the

Juvenile Court thinks otherwise, it shall adjourn the case and refer

it to the competent Court of Magistrates which shall take

cognizance of the case as if the proceedings had been commenced

before the said Court of Magistrates.

(2) Where in the course of any proceedings before a Court of

Magistrates it appears to the court that the person charged or to

whom the proceedings relate is under the age of eighteen (18)

years, the said court shall adjourn the case and refer it to the

Juvenile Court which shall proceed with the hearing and

determination of the case as if the proceedings had been

commenced before the said Juvenile Court.

(3)

Notwithstanding the provisions of article 3 and of sub-

articles (1) and (2), it shall be lawful to charge a child or young person

before a court other than the Juvenile Court when the child or young

person is charged jointly with another person who is not a child or

young person.

(4)

Where a child or young person is charged before a court

other than the Juvenile Court jointly with any other person not being a

child or young person that court shall notify the Juvenile Court of the

charges and the Juvenile Court shall, after granting an opportunity to

the parties to the case to make their submissions on whether it should

hear the case against the child or young person separately or whether it

should transfer its jurisdiction to the court before which the charges

were made in order to allow that court to proceed with the hearing of

the case, decide whether to transfer its jurisdiction in respect of the

child or young person to the court before which the child or young

person stands so charged.

(5)

Where the Juvenile Court decides that a transfer of

jurisdiction to the court before which the charges were made should

not take place, the court before which the charges were made shall

order the separation of the proceedings against the child or young

person from the rest of the proceedings and it shall send the case

against the child or young person to be heard separately before the

Juvenile Court. In such a case the prosecution shall do all that is

necessary for that purpose.

(6)

Where the Juvenile Court transfers or declines to transfer its

jurisdiction in terms of sub-article (4)

(a) no appeal shall lie from the decision to transfer or to

decline to transfer jurisdiction or from any decision

which implements any transfer so ordered; and

(b) where the transfer of jurisdiction is made the

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provisions of article 8 shall mutatis mutandis apply to

the court to which jurisdiction is transferred in respect

of the proceedings insofar as they concern the child or

young person as if any reference in that article to the

Juvenile Court where a reference to the court to which

jurisdiction was transferred.

No person other than the officials of the Juvenile Court and

of the prosecution, the parties to the case and their counsel or other

members of the legal profession, representatives of the Ministry

responsible for social welfare, witnesses or other persons directly

concerned in the case, the parent or other relative or the guardian of

the child or young person charged or concerned in the proceedings,

and bona fide representatives of newspapers, shall, except by leave

of the Juvenile Court, be present at a sitting of the same or in any

place adjacent to the room in which the hearing of the case or

proceedings is held.

(1) Without prejudice to anything contained in any other

law, and subject as hereinafter provided, no newspaper report of, or

sound or television broadcast relating to, any proceedings in the

Juvenile Court shall reveal the name, address or school, or include

any particulars calculated to lead to the identification, of any child

or young person concerned in those proceedings, either as being the

person against or in respect of whom the proceedings are taken or

as being a witness therein, nor shall any picture be published in any

newspaper or on television as being or including a picture of any

child or young person so concerned in any such proceedings as

aforesaid

Provided that the Juvenile Court or the Minister may in any

case, if satisfied that it is appropriate to do so for the purpose of

avoiding injustice to a child or young person, by order dispense

with the requirements of this sub-article in relation to him to such

extent as may be specified in the order.

(2) Any person who publishes or broadcasts any matter in

contravention of sub-article (1) shall be guilty of contempt of the

authority of the Juvenile Court and shall be liable to a fine

(ammenda or multa) or to detention in terms of the Criminal Code,

saving always any other punishment to which the offender may be

liable according to law in respect of any other offence arising from

the said publication or broadcast

Provided that in respect of such other offence separate

proceedings must be instituted, according to law.

(3) Without prejudice to the powers of the Juvenile Court

conferred on it by articles 3(2) and (3), if the Police become aware

of the publication or broadcast of any matter in contravention of

sub-article (1), they shall forthwith inform the Juvenile Court and

shall carry out such directions as the Juvenile Court shall give,

orally or in writing, for proceedings to be taken before the said

court against the offender, either by summons or by arrest.

(1) Where, in any proceedings before any court of criminal

justice in relation to an offence against, or any conduct contrary to,

decency or morality, a child or young person is called as a witness,

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the court may direct that any person, other than the persons

mentioned in article 7, be excluded from the court during the taking

of the evidence of the witness.

(2) The powers conferred on a court by this article shall be in

addition and without prejudice to any other powers of the court to

hold its sittings with closed doors.

No person under the age of sixteen (16) years who is not

accompanied by his parent or other relative or guardian shall be

permitted to be present in any court of criminal justice during the

t r i a l o f a n y p e r s o n c h a rg e d w i t h a n o ff e n c e o r d u r i n g a n y

proceedings preliminary thereto; and any person under the age of

sixteen (16) years present in court who is unaccompanied as

aforesaid shall be ordered to be removed by the court unless he is

the person charged with the offence, or except during such time as

his presence is required as a witness or otherwise for the purposes

of justice.

(1) The provisions of article 7 shall mutatis mutandis

apply to any court of criminal justice where the person or one of the

persons charged or indicted, or where the appellant or t he

respondent or one of the appellants or one of the respondents, is a

child or young person.

(2) The provisions of article 8 shall mutatis mutandis apply to

proceedings before any court of criminal justice.

The Minister may make regulations for prescribing the

remuneration payable to the assistants of the Juvenile Court.